Follow Us

Malaysia rejects reports of possible MH370 sighting in Maldives

Mar 19, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities on Wednesday dismissed reports that islanders from the Maldives had seen a "low-flying jumbo jet" that could have been the missing MH370 plane, implying another false alarm in the 11-day search for the aircraft.

Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday afternoon that the Maldives air force chief had informed him that the reports were "not true".

Police in the Maldives, a honeymoon destination in the Indian Ocean, began investigating on Tuesday after the national Haveeru newspaper reported that residents of a remote southern island had spotted a large plane flying over them on March 8.

Haveeru said witnesses on Kuda Huvadhoo had seen a white aircraft with red stripes flying low towards the southern tip of the Maldives on the morning the plane disappeared.

"I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly," the newspaper's website quoted one witness as saying.

Haveeru journalist Farah Ahmed said several witnesses had given similar accounts.

"These people first heard a very loud noise from a plane flying unusually low and they came out to see it," Ahmed told AFP by phone from the Maldives capital Male, But the islands' National Defence Force said Wednesday morning that no trace of the missing flight had been picked up on radar.

"Based on the monitoring up to date, no indication of flight MH370 has been observed on any military radars in the country," it said a statement on Wednesday.

The civilian radars at the Maldives airports had also "been analysed" but there was no "indication of the said flight," the statement added.

The Maldives police and civil aviation authority confirmed that a detailed enquiry was underway and they were hopeful of giving a progress report later in the day.

"We are looking at everything from radar reports and records of the air traffic control," Hussain Jaleel, chief executive of Maldives Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP.

The hunt for the missing passenger jet, which carried 239 people en route from Kuala Lumpur, now focuses on two vast search areas - a northern one spanning south and central Asia, and a southern corridor stretching deep into the southern Indian Ocean towards Australia.

There have been several false alarms linked to debris spotted in busy shipping lanes in Southeast Asian waters.

A New Zealand oil rig worker in the South China Sea also came forward several days after the crisis began to report he had seen an airliner in flames.

The Maldives, located far from both arcs, is not among the 26 countries currently involved in the massive international search operation.

However neighbouring Sri Lanka on Tuesday granted Malaysia and three other countries involved in the hunt to use its air space to conduct search operations, following a request from diplomats.

The Royal Malaysian Navy corvette KD Terengganu and a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney conduct a coordinated air and sea search for a missing Malaysian Airlines jet in the Gulf of Thailand

Crew members from the Royal Malaysian Air Force prepare a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft for a Search and Rescue operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in the Straits of Malacca

A crew member from the Royal Malaysian Air Force uses binoculars onboard a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft during a Search and Rescue operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in the Straits of Malacca

Ground workers push a Vietnam Coast Guard Casa aircraft after a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane over the southern sea, at a military airport in Ho Chi Minh city on March 13, 2014.

Indonesian Air Force personnel aboard an Indonesian Air Force military surveillance aircraft over the Malacca Strait, a sea passageway between Indonesia and Malaysia, while searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane.

Students light candles as they hold placards in solidarity with families of the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane during a candle light vigil at the university belt in Manila on March 13, 2014.

At least 43 ships and 39 aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China, the US, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand have joined the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER. India, Japan and Brunei joined the search operations on March 12.

Republic of Singapore Navy personnel participating in the search and rescue operations, approximately 380 nautical miles (700 kms) north of Singapore, in the South China Sea for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Singapore Navy personnel participating in the search and rescue operations, approximately 380 nautical miles (700 kms) north of Singapore, in the South China Sea for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Philippine Air Force crew aboard a C-130 plane scour the seas while flying over the western Philippines in the South China Sea as they help search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A Philippine Air Force crew member aboard a C-130 plane scours the seas while flying over the western Philippines in the South China Sea as they help search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A C-130 Hercules transport plane belonging to Japan's Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) is seen at the ASDF base in Naha on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, before departing to help in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane

An Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency boat patrols the Malacca Strait off Aceh province located in the area of northern Sumatra island in search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The search for a missing Malaysian jet swung northwest towards the Andaman Sea on March 12, far from its intended flight path, exposing Malaysia to mounting criticism that its response was in disarray.

At least 40 ships and 34 aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China, the US, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand have joined the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER. On March 12, India announced that it is joining the search operations as well. No sign of the plane has been spotted so far.

Family members of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vote to set a deadline for the company to answer their requests, including providing solatium without additional conditions, at a hotel in Beijing

Surti Dahlianese, niece of Dutch national, Surti Dahlia, a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 looks at identity documents of her missing aunt Surti Dahlia while other Indonesian relatives watch television to monitor the latest developments on the missing aircraft from their residence in Medan city, located in Sumatra island.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Kenneth Noble (2ndR) speaks next to the Police Services Executive Director Jean-Michel Louboutin (R), the Director of Operational Police Support Michel O'Connell (L) and the Chief of staff Roraima Andriani (2ndL) during a press conference where they display an image of two suspects from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370

Malaysia's Police Chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference, that one of the men (L) was identified as a 19-year-old Iranian Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad while the identity of the other was being investigated.

An aerial view of an oil spill is seen from a Vietnamese Air Force aircraft in the search area for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, 250km from Vietnam and 190km from Malaysia, in this handout photo from Thanh Nien Newpaper taken on March 8, 2014.

Fuad Sharuji, VP Operation Control, said during the last reported contact at 35,000 feet, around two hours from KLIA, there was no call from the crew or notification from the tower that they were having any kind of difficulties.

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing," MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (above) said in a statement.

An airport worker writes on a sign board advising relatives of passengers of a missing Malaysia Airlines to go to a nearby hotel for information on the flight, at Beijing International Airport in Beijing on March 8, 2014

Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Director General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (L) speaks at a news conference at a hotel near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang March 9, 2014.

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan (seated), looks at a map on a TV screen during a news conference about their mission to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan points to a map during a news conference after their mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island

Crew members looking outside windows from a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft working during a search and rescue (SAR) operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane over the Strait of Malacca.